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October 10, 2017 Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 3:1-10The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh,and announce to it the message that I will tell you."So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,according to the LORD's bidding.Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;it took three days to go through it.Jonah began his journey through the city,and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,"when the people of Nineveh believed God;they proclaimed a fast and all of...

Commentary by "A Christian's Worldview" Lady Wisdom vs Lady Folly I love the book of Proverbs, because in so many ways they resemble the teachings of Jesus as he walked with the Disciples. It makes sense though, because Christ is Wisdom personified in the flesh of Jesus. Now as you read today's proverb, it's beneficial to understand why Solomon was led by God to refer to wisdom and folly as women. This is because the proverb is directed towards his son. In order for the boy to understand the difference between wisdom and folly, the best way was to...

Many believe that assurance of eternal salvation is neither possible nor even to be sought. To claim such assurance is considered a mask of supreme arrogance, the nadir of self-conceit. Yet if God declares that it is possible to have full assurance of salvation and even commands that we seek after it, it would be supremely arrogant for one to deny or neglect it. In fact, God does command us to seek certainty about our salvation: “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never...

October 9, 2017 Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 1:1–2:1-2, 11This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;their wickedness has come up before me."But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,away from the LORD. The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,and in the furious tempest that arosethe ship...

Proverb 8 (NKJV) The Excellence of Wisdom Wisdom Is Everlasting01 Does not wisdom cry out, 00 And understanding lift up her voice? 02 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, 00 Beside the way, where the paths meet. 03 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, 00 At the entrance of the doors: 04 "To you, O men, I call, 00 And my voice is to the sons of men. 05 O you simple ones, understand prudence, 00 And you fools, be of an understanding heart. 06 Listen, for I...

October 8, 2017 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 5:1-7Let me now sing of my friend,my friend's song concerning his vineyard.My friend had a vineyardon a fertile hillside;he spaded it, cleared it of stones,and planted the choicest vines;within it he built a watchtower,and hewed out a wine press.Then he looked for the crop of grapes,but what it yielded was wild grapes. Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,judge between me and my vineyard:What more was there to do for my vineyardthat I had not done?Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,did it bring forth...

My wife, Kasi, and I have five children. Our oldest two are both girls, eleven and six, and they both love to play with Play-Doh. They have all the colors and all the tools necessary to mold, shape and build anything their vivid imaginations can come up with. OK, now for a moment of confession. I love to play with them and create as well. It reminds me of my childhood, but my daughters often will put me in time-out when I mix the colors to create new ones. It's what I always did as a kid, but they can't...

Proverb 7 (NKJV) The Wiles of a Harlot 01 My son, keep my words, 00 And treasure my commands within you. 02 Keep my commands and live, 00 And my law as the apple of your eye. 03 Bind them on your fingers; 00 Write them on the tablet of your heart. 04 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"; 00 And call understanding your nearest kin, 05 That they may keep you from the immoral woman, 00 From the seductress who flatters with her words. The Crafty Harlot 06 For at the window of my house 00 I...

October 7, 2017 Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary Reading 1 Bar 4:5-12, 27-29Fear not, my people!Remember, Israel,You were sold to the nationsnot for your destruction;It was because you angered Godthat you were handed over to your foes.For you provoked your Makerwith sacrifices to demons, to no-gods;You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you,and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.She indeed saw coming upon youthe anger of God; and she said: "Hear, you neighbors of Zion!God has brought great mourning upon me,For I have seen the captivitythat the Eternal God has broughtupon my sons and daughters.With joy I...

The former pontiff said liturgy had become too centred on man's 'activity and creativity'God has become “obscured” in the liturgy, resulting in a crisis for the Church, Benedict XVI has said. In a foreword to the Russian edition of his book Theology of the Liturgy, reproduced in La Stampa, the former pontiff said a misunderstanding of the nature of liturgy has led to man putting “his own activity and creativity” at the heart of worship. “Nothing precedes divine worship,” he says. “With these words, St Benedict, in his Rule (43.3), established the absolute priority of divine worship over any other...

A Sobering Reminder on the Liturgy from the Book of Leviticus Msgr. Charles Pope • October 5, 2017 • There is a sobering passage in the Book of Leviticus that speaks to the need for priests to be faithful to the prescribed liturgical norms. While the offense described in this passage is complex, the main point is clear enough: The liturgy is revealed by God and is not the personal plaything of the priest or the congregation. Although some of the liturgical edicts of the Old Covenant have been fulfilled and are therefore no longer binding, only the Church,...

And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God...

Proverb 6 (NKJV) Dangerous Promises Seven Deadly Sins 01 My son, if you become surety for your friend, 00 If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 02 You are snared by the words of your mouth; 00 You are taken by the words of your mouth. 03 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; 00 For you have come into the hand of your friend: 00 Go and humble yourself; 00 Plead with your friend. 04 Give no sleep to your eyes, 00 Nor slumber to your eyelids. 05 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from...

We are fragile mortals, given to fears of every sort. We have a built-in insecurity that no amount of whistling in the dark can mollify. We seek assurance concerning the things that frighten us the most. The prohibition uttered more frequently than any other by our Lord is the command “Fear not.” He said this so often to His disciples and others He encountered that it almost came to sound like a greeting. Where most people greet others by saying “Hi” or “Hello,” the first words of Jesus very often were “Fear not.” Why? Perhaps Jesus’ predilection for those words...

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable . . . that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Scripture equips you for spiritual service. Each week I have the privilege of interacting with more than one hundred students at The Master's Seminary. One of my greatest joys is seeing their determination to do God's work in God's way. That attitude is the key to success in ministry, as Joshua learned when he assumed leadership over the Israelites after Moses' death. At that point, God said to him, "This book of the...

“If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). God is light, and His children share His nature. First John 1:5 aptly describes God’s nature as “light” (truth and holiness). Because they partake of His nature (2 Peter 1:4), His children also walk in the light. It must be understood that we don’t become God’s children by walking in the light, but rather we walk in the light because we are His children. The Greek...

WARSAW, Poland (ChurchMilitant.com) - As Catholics in Poland prepare for a national Rosary rally, foreign interests and secular agendas are agitating to reshape the country in their own image. Catholics in Poland are planning a prayer initiative called "Rosary to the Borders" on Saturday, October 7. In this prayer initiative, over a million people will pray 20 mysteries of the most Holy Rosary simultaneously. It will take place at hundreds of churches all along Poland's borders, as well as airports and other locations throughout the nation. Saturday's Rosary will ask God to bestow His blessing upon both Poland and the...

October 6, 2017 Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Bar 1:15-22During the Babylonian captivity, the exiles prayed:"Justice is with the Lord, our God;and we today are flushed with shame,we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem,that we, with our kings and rulersand priests and prophets, and with our ancestors,have sinned in the Lord's sight and disobeyed him.We have neither heeded the voice of the Lord, our God,nor followed the precepts which the Lord set before us.From the time the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egyptuntil the present day,we have been disobedient...

"Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation" (1 Pet. 2:2). Scripture is our source of spiritual growth. A newborn baby was abandoned in a pile of trash in a city alley. The mother had obviously left it there to die. The infant was near death when someone heard its faint cry and summoned medical help. The child survived, but not until it had received the attention and nourishment it needed. That situation has a spiritual parallel, which Peter used to illustrate the believer's dependence on God's...

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6). Those who deny the reality of their sin affirm the unreality of their salvation. Ours is a society that rejects the concept of individual responsibility. People blame society, their parents, their genes—anything but their own actions and choices—for their problems. The biblical teaching that all people are responsible for breaking God’s holy law is scoffed at as primitive, unsophisticated, and harmful to a healthy self-esteem. Even some who claim to be Christians refuse to...